Processing equipment requiring highly precise location determination ability is being used in various industrial environments. A planar motor is one of the processing equipment and being used in processing apparatuses for handling, for example, processes for manufacturing a semiconductor, processes for manufacturing various flat penal displays, and processes to various objects.
Since the planar motor does not require a separate medium for movement of a mover, it is being usually used in special work environments such as a vacuum environment.
Meanwhile, a conventional planar motor provides a mover on a top portion of a stator and moves the mover by controlling a force of a magnetic field applied to the stator. In this case, an object to be processed is placed on a top portion of the mover, and a process is carried out through processing equipment provided separately from the mover. Accordingly, the configuration of the entire system becomes complicated and large in volume.
In this regard, Korean Patent No. 10-0855921 (Title of Invention: Planar Motor and Driving Method Thereof, Stage Apparatus and Driving Method Thereof, Exposure Apparatus and Exposing Method, and Device and Manufacturing Method Thereof) obtains inductance distribution in a stator, which varies depending on a location relationship between a mover having a magnetic flux generator and the stator, by measuring inductance of each coil configuring the stator by means of an inductance measuring machine. Based on the obtained inductance distribution, a two-dimensional location and a posture of a stage member are detected. Location control of the stage member is implemented by controlling a direction or a size of a current supplied to each coil based on the detected results. As a result, the location control of the stage member can be implemented, irrespective of the location or the posture of the stage member.